Golf practice aid

ABSTRACT

A golf practice aid suitable for use with, and adapted to be struck by a golf club having a strike face. The practice aid including a simulated golf ball with a flexible deformable core surrounded by an energy absorbing outer cover with an adhesive retention means attached thereto. The adhesive retention means in use, releasably adhering to a complementary adhesive retention means attached to the strike face when struck by the club. The arrangement of the core and cover and the properties associated with each are such that the simulated golf ball when struck by the club produces a sound similar to an actual golf ball and absorbs energy imparted to the ball upon impact so as to ensure adherence of the ball to the strike face of the club.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to golf practice aids and in particular to aidsto practice striking a ball.

2. Description of Related Art

Traditionally practice of this kind occurs at driving ranges. Theseusually comprise a full scale fairway without a green. The golfer placesa ball on a tee, addresses the ball, swings a club and strikes the ballto propel it down the fairway. Generally this is repeated several timesbefore the golfer retrieves the balls driven down the practice fairway.This involves travelling a considerable distance down the fairway tolocate and retrieve the balls or, as is more usual at commercial ranges,having the balls retrieved by persons employed for the purpose. Ballretrieval is a time-consuming and tiresome or expensive tasks.

Hitherto a variety of training appliances and apparatus have beenproposed to aid the golfer in the practice of the kind in question.These range from expensive and technically complex computer and videoaided equipment to uncomfortable mechanical hardware into which a golferis harnessed, and to less expensive and simpler aids such as the use ofa ball connected by a flexible cord to an anchor. However the latter aidmay be hazardous and requires the use of a sizeable obstruction-freepractice zone.

It is also known to practice with lightweight balls in place of standardballs. These are usually the size and shape of standard balls but areconstructed of lightweight material. They may be of solid or hollowconstruction. One known lightweight ball comprises a perforated hollowshell wherein the perforations increase drag when the ball is in flight.The lightweight balls are addressed and struck in the usual manner butthe distance they travel is significantly less than that of standardgolf balls. Practicing with lightweight balls thereby obviates the needfor a fairway-sized practice green. Nevertheless a sizeableobstruction-free practice zone is required and ball retrieval is still atime-consuming and tiresome task.

Another prior art device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,924. Thispatent discloses a golf practice device which includes a simulated ballcomprising a low mass foam ball having a strip of VELCRO extendingaround the entire circumference of the foam ball. The VELCRO cooperateswith a VELCRO pad or the strike face of the golf club so that when thefoam ball is struck by the golf club it adheres to the strike face. Thisdevice suffers from several problems. Firstly, the foam ball is likelyto be damaged relatively easily because it is exposed when in use.Furthermore, the foam ball will not stick to the club strike face everytime. It is believed this may be because the VELCRO strip extendscontinuously around the circumference of the foam ball and as such islimited in the manner it can be deformed. A further disadvantage withthe device is its appearance and its "feel" when the club strikes theball. The foam ball does not look like a normal golf ball nor does itprovide any noise or feeling of impact when the club strikes the ball.This is a particularly important factor if the device is to be used as agolf practice device.

An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a golfpractice aid which will substantially overcome or alleviate one or moreof the abovementioned disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect the invention there is provided a golf practiceaid suitable for use with, and adapted to be struck by a golf clubhaving a strike face, the aid comprising a simulated golf ball whichincludes an inner lightweight core and outer cover having retentionmeans on its surface, the properties of the core and cover being suchthat the ball is adapted to be releasably retained on the strike face ofthe golf club after being struck.

Preferably, the retention means on the golf practice aid comprise onepart of a coupling means whereby the ball is adapted to be releasablyretained when the strike face of the golf club is furnished with acomplementary second part of the coupling means.

Preferably, the core is formed from a lightweight compressible materialand the cover is formed from a tear-resistant flexible material suchthat when, in use, the retention means on the outer surface of the ballis released from the face of the golf club, the cover material resiststearing.

Preferably, the outer cover of the ball has at least one hole therein sothat when in use, upon impact of the club with the ball the core willreadily deform to assist in ensuring that the retention means willretain the ball on the club face. The hole in combination with thematerials from which the cover is made tend to absorb the energy duringthe striking of the club and ball thereby limiting the problem of"bounce" whereby the strike face does not adhere to the ball.

The retention means on the outer cover may be in the form of a VELCROpatch arranged to co-operate with a VELCRO patch on the face of the golfclub. The patch on the golf club face may be removably attached so thatthe golf club may be used in the normal fashion when not practising. Inone embodiment the patch on the ball comprises a central region and endregions with the patch secured to the ball in the central region and thetwo end regions extending generally tangentially to the ball.

The core of the ball may be formed from a plastic material such aspolyurethane foam, ethyl vinyl acetate foam, or other resilientmaterial.

In one preferred form the core comprises a polyurethane foam having adensity in the range of 35-80 kg/cubic meter and preferably has ahardness in the range of 200-500 newtons.

The outer cover is preferably formed from a latex material having atensile strength preferably in the range of 22-30 mega pascals apolyurethane elastomer, liquid silicon plastisol or the like. It is alsopreferable that the modulus of elasticity of the outer cover is in therange of 700 to 950%.

The outer cover of the ball may be dimpled in a similar fashion to aconventional golf ball. In addition, the patch on its outer surface isrelatively small compared to the surface of the ball so that the balllooks substantially the same as a conventional golf ball.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a golfclub having a strike face adapted to strike a lightweight simulated golfball as described above wherein the strike face has retention means onits surface to enable the target object to be releasably retained on thestrike face of the club after being struck thereby.

Preferably, the golf club's retention means comprise in part of acoupling means adapted to releasably retain the target object when thetarget object is furnished with a complementary second part of saidcoupling means on its surface.

The invention further consists in a combination of a golf club and alightweight target object respectively furnished with co-acting parts ofcoupling means.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the practice aid of thepresent invention exhibits many advantages over the prior art devices.The provision of a cover protects the ball from repetitive use. In thepreferred form, the cover includes a hole in it which together with theproperties of the core and cover ensure that in most instances the ballwill adhere to the club strike face when being used. This may be furtherenhanced when the patch on the ball is fixed thereto only in the centralregion with the opposed end portions extending tangentially from theball. Furthermore, when the ball is struck it emits a sound similar to agolf ball when struck by a club. This is believed to be because of thearrangement of the cover, core and hole in the cover which cause thenoise effect. In addition, the ball simulates in appearance a normalgolf ball and therefore it is not disconcerting to use by a golfer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the invention will hereinafter be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of one part of a coupling means adapted to beapplied to a strike face of a golf club being a component of acombination in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation view of part of a golf club being a component ofa combination in accordance with the invention illustrating the one partof a coupling means of FIG. 1 applied to the strike face of the club;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic perspective side view of part of the golf clubof FIG. 2 addressing a target object being components of the combinationin accordance with the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the target object ofFIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic end view of the target object of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of another embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a side view of another form of target object according to thepresent invention; and

FIG. 8 is an end view of the target object shown in FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings, a golf club 1 is provided with one part ofretention means in the form of an adhesive backed VELCRO pad 2 affixedto the strike face 3 of the club head 4. As shown in FIG. 6 a protectivecover 9 may overlie the adhesive. The pad 2 is of a size and shape tocover the entire strike face of the club. Alternatively it may, forexample, partly cover same.

The practice ball 5 comprises a lightweight ball-shaped inner core 6 andouter cover 16 of external size and shape comparable to a standard golfball, provided with a complementary second part of the retention meansin the form of a VELCRO patch 7 affixed to the surface thereof. Thethickness of the cover is exaggerated for ease of illustration. Thispatch 7 is adapted to couple to the pad 2 affixed to the club head 4upon contact therebetween to enable the target object 5 to impinge andbe retained on the strike face 3 of the club at the point of impacttherebetween. More than one patch may be applied to the target object asshown in FIG. 3. In the embodiment of FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 the patch 7 is ofgenerally circular in shape however, it could be rectangular or anyother configuration. In the embodiment of FIGS. 7 and 8 the patch 7 isattached to the ball 5 only in the centre region thereof. Two oppositeend portions of the patch extend generally tangentially away from theball 5. These free end portions being flat rather than following thecurvature of the ball tend to alleviate further the problem of "bounce:and can be used with any club face notwithstanding the degree of loftand tend not to be affected by the way the strike face of the golf clubstrikes the ball. The two end portions tend to compensate for theaforementioned variables. The hole 17 is provided in the cover 16. Thehole 17 is shown in the region of the patch 7. It will be appreciatedhowever that the hole could be located anywhere on the cover. The areaof contact of the patch in this embodiment should be about 110 to 115 sqmm when the ball is about the size of a normal golf ball.

In other embodiments one or more of the patch 7 or pad 2 may, forexample, be backed by resilient impact absorbing material such asrubber, foam plastics or other absorbing material.

The core 6 of the ball 5 may be formed of flexible foam polyurethane,and other flexible deformable material. The cover 16 may be formed oflatex, silicon, polyurethane elastomer, plastisol or other high tensileresilient material.

FIG. 3 illustrates the golf club head 4 addressing the ball 5 which hasbeen placed on a tee 8. The illustrated tee 8 comprises a seat portion 9adapted to support a ball and a base portion 10 adapted to sit on asubstantially flat surface. Alternatively the base portion 10 mayinclude projections or barbs.

In use the target ball is positioned on a tee 8 with the patch 7oriented so that the head of the club may address one of the patches 7.The user then swings the club to strike the ball 5. The pad 2 and patch7 come together at the point of impingement therebetween and thecomplementary parts of the retaining means forming the VELCRO pad 2 andpatch 7 couple to hold the object to the strike face of the club at thepoint of impact. The club face with the target object releasably securedthereto may then be inspected to ascertain the correctness of the swingand more particularly the accuracy of the strike. After inspection theuser simply uncouples the target object from the club head and preparesfor the next stroke.

The illustrated practice aid enables the user to practice striking atarget object without propelling same away from the tee area. Howeverthis aid is advanced by way of example only, and it is to be understoodthat various modifications, alterations and additions may be introducedinto the constructions and arrangement of parts previously describedwithout departing from the spirit or ambit of the invention. Forexample, a material other than VELCRO may form the coupling or retentionmeans. It may, for example, take the form or a tacky material on onecomponent and a complementary tacky material on the other. In theillustrated embodiment both components of the combination are modifiedby applying to each one of complementary parts of a coupling means. Inother embodiments the whole of the retention means may be applied to thetarget object or to the club.

Finally, it is to be understood that the inventive concept in any of itsaspects can be incorporated in many different constructions so that thegenerality of the preceding description is not to be superceded by theparticularity of the attached drawings. Various alterations,modifications and/or additions may be incorporated into the variousconstructions and arrangements of parts without departing from thespirit or ambit of the invention.

I claim:
 1. A golf practice aid suitable for use with, an adapted to bestruck by a golf club having a strike face, the aid comprising asimulated golf ball which includes a flexible deformable core surroundedby an energy absorbing outer cover with an adhesive retention meansattached to an outer surface of said cover, said adhesive retentionmeans releasably adhering to a complementary adhesive retention meansattached to the strike face when struck by said club, wherein said covercomprises a material having a predetermined tensile strength and saidcore comprises a material having a predetermined density such that whenstruck said simulated golf ball adheres to the strike face and producesa sound of an actual golf ball being struck by a golf club.
 2. The golfpractice aid in accordance with claim 1, wherein said cover is formedfrom a tear-resistant flexible material so that, in use, said coverresists tearing when said adhesive retention means on said cover isseparated from said complementary adhesive retention means on the strikeface of said golf club.
 3. The golf practice aid in accordance withclaim 1, wherein said adhesive retention means on said cover and saidcomplementary adhesive retention means on the strike face of said clubcomprise complementary hook-and-loop type material.
 4. The golf practiceaid in accordance with claim 1, wherein said core material is a flexibledeformable polyurethane foam plastic.
 5. The golf practice aid inaccordance with claim 4, wherein said core material has a densitybetween approximately 35 kg/m³ and approximately 80 kg/m³.
 6. The golfpractice aid in accordance with claim 5, wherein said core material hasa hardness between approximately 200 newtons and approximately 500newtons.
 7. The golf practice aid in accordance with claim 1, whereinsaid cover material is one of a polyurethane elastomer, liquid siliconand plastisol, having a tensile strength between approximately 22 MPaand approximately 30 MPa.
 8. The golf practice aid in accordance withclaim 7, wherein said cover material has a modulus of elasticity betweenapproximately 700% and approximately 950%.
 9. The golf practice aid inaccordance with claim 1, wherein said adhesive retention means on saidcover comprises a patch with a smaller surface area than the entire areaof said outer surface of said cover.
 10. The golf practice aid inaccordance with claim 1, wherein said adhesive retention means on saidcover comprises a patch having a central region and two opposed endregions, wherein said patch is tangentially mounted to said cover at thecentral region so that the end regions extend away from said cover. 11.In combination a golf club having a strike face adapted to strike alightweight simulated golf aid according to claim 1 hereof wherein saidstrike face has adhesive retention means on its surface to enable theaid object to be releasably retained on the strike face of the clubafter being struck thereby.
 12. A golf practice aid suitable for usewith, and adapted to be struck by a golf club having a strike face, theaid comprising a simulated golf ball which includes a flexibledeformable core surrounded by an energy absorbing outer cover having ahole defined therein so that, in use, upon impact of said club with saidsimulated golf ball said core and cover readily deform to ensure thatsaid ball is retained on the strike face of said club, and an adhesiveretention means attached to an outer surface of said cover, saidadhesive retention means releasably adhering to a complementary adhesiveretention means attached to the strike face when struck by said club,wherein said cover comprises a material having a predetermined tensilestrength and said core comprises a material having a predetermineddensity such that when struck said simulated golf ball adheres to thestrike face and produces a sound of an actual golf ball being struck bya golf club.
 13. The golf practice aid in accordance with claim 12,wherein said adhesive retention means on said cover and saidcomplementary adhesive retention means on the strike face of said clubcomprise complementary hook-and-loop type material.
 14. The golfpractice aid in accordance with claim 13, wherein said adhesiveretention means on said cover comprises a patch with a smaller surfacearea than the entire area of said outer surface of said cover.
 15. Thegolf practice aid in accordance with claim 14, wherein said patch onsaid cover includes a central region and two opposed end regions,wherein said patch is tangentially mounted to said cover at the centralregion so that the end regions extend away from said cover.